ThinLinX Management Software

User Manual
Version 7.8.8
8/27/2016

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

TMS ON WINDOWS INSTALLATION ........................................................................................................................... 3

STARTING TMS .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

CONFIGURING TMS .................................................................................................................................................. 4

BASIC TLXOS DEVICE CONFIGURATION ..................................................................................................................... 8

BASIC TLXOS DEVICE CONFIGURATION VIA TMS ....................................................................................................... 8

ASSIGNING A NAME TO A TLXOS DEVICE ................................................................................................................ 10

SETTING THE REMOTE SERVER AND CONNECTION PROTOCOL ............................................................................... 11

SETTING THE CLIENT PROTOCOL EXPERIENCE LEVEL ............................................................................................... 13

10

SETTING SCREEN RESOLUTION ................................................................................................................................ 14

11

REBOOTING A TLXOS DEVICE .................................................................................................................................. 16

12

SETTING THE TIMEZONE AND TIME SERVER ........................................................................................................... 17

13

DOWNLOADING FIRMWARE UPDATES FOR TLXOS DEVICES .................................................................................... 19

16

NETWORK CONFIGURATION ................................................................................................................................... 21

17

KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION .................................................................................................................................. 22

18

FIREWALL CONFIGURATION .................................................................................................................................... 22

19

UPLOAD FILES TO YOUR DEVICES ............................................................................................................................ 23

20

STORAGE & WIZARD CONFIGURATION ................................................................................................................... 24

21

THE TOOLS MENU ................................................................................................................................................... 24

23

DISPLAYING DETAILED TLXOS DEVICE INFORMATION .............................................................................................. 33

24

SORTING TMS CLIENTS INTO DEPARTMENTS .......................................................................................................... 34

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FAQ ......................................................................................................................................................................... 36

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COPYRIGHT ............................................................................................................................................................. 42

Introduction

ThinLinX Management Software (TMS) provides the ability to configure and manage any ARM
or X86 Architecture device running the ThinLinX Operating System (TLXOS). TLXOS is highly
optimized to support the Intel NUC range, Intel Compute Sticks and Intel Small Form Factor
devices by utilizing ThinLinX Machine Code routines and the ThinLinX H.264 hardware
decoder
Two variations of TLXOS are available for Intel devices, both versions have a 64-Bit Linux
Kernel and either a 32-Bit or 64-Bit Root filesystem. At the moment the ThinLinX H.264
hardware decoder is only supported in the 32-Bit version, which we recommend for Citrix HDX
& RemoteFX if the H.264 decoder mode is desired.
A generic X86 32-Bit version of TLXOS is available to repurpose PCs and Laptops as powerful
Thin Clients or Digital Signage devices. The TLXOS X86 Installation guide is available at the
link below
http://www.thinlinx.us/downloads/ThinLinX-TLXOS-NUC-CS-RePC-Installation-Nov10-PM2015.pdf
An ARM Hard Float version of TLXOS is available for the Raspberry Pi 2 & 3, this version
supports the RPi H.264 hardware decoder and delivers exceptional performance at very low cost.
Coming soon, TLXOS for the Rockchip RK3288, Allwinner H3 & NVIDIA Tegra. The TLXOS
X86 Installation guide is available at the link below
http://www.thinlinx.us/downloads/ThinLinX-TLXOS-RPi-Installation-Nov24-PM-2015.pdf
The Micro Center HDX Ready Pi has TLXOS pre-loaded but not yet installed, see short Video
below for Installation instructions
http://www.thinlinx.com/tlxos-mc.mp4
TMS can be used for a variety of tasks, ranging from something as simple as rebooting a TLXOS
device, to upgrading the device with the latest TLXOS software. TMS runs on Windows and
Linux, supports all TLXOS devices including the turn key Micro Center version of the RPi3
which comes bundled with TLXOS
A Linux version of TMS is integrated into TLXOS, this can be enabled by changing the TLXOS
Protocol to TMS

TMS on Windows installation

TMS ships as a downloadable self-executable. The same executable runs on both 32 and 64 bit
versions of Windows. To install TMS, download the .exe installer file onto your Windows
system, double click the downloaded file and follow the instructions.

To uninstall TMS on Windows, click;

Start > All Programs > ThinLinX > Uninstall ThinLinX Device Manager

Starting TMS

On Windows start TMS by double clicking on the desktop shortcut, please ensure the user
running TMS has Administrator rights or alternatively right click and Run as
Administrator

Configuring TMS

TMS is automatically configured during installation, the recommended procedure is to accept

the default installation directory. The first time TMS is run on a system, the configuration dialog
appears. Any time after installation you can manually launch the configuration dialog if required
by clicking on Edit > Settings.
The configuration dialog box is shown below

TMS directory denotes where TMS will store client images, firmware updates and temporary
data such as log files downloaded from TMS Clients and department configuration files
See image below displaying the five subdirectories that are created when TMS is installed.
All firmware images downloaded via the TMS Download Icon for any TLXOS device are
automatically stored in the firmware directory.
All hotfixes are stored in the hotfix directory, these are also downloaded using the TMS
Download Icon.
The profile directory is used for storing profiles that are created with TMS and then deployed to
one or more devices, this feature is still under development.
The temp directory is used to store log files
The TMSclient directory is used to store updated version of the TMS client, these are downloaded
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using the TMS Download Icon

The image below shows the downloaded TLXOS Firmware, you can see the zipped packages for
(a) Phoenix PC
(b) TLX NUC32
(c) TLX NUC64
(d) TLX RPi
(e) TLX RPi MC

32-Bit Generic X86 Re-Purpose PC version of TLXOS

32-Bit TLXOS H.264 support optimized for Intel Small Form Factor
64-Bit TLXOS optimized for Intel devices
ARM Hard Float version of TLXOS for the RPi2 & 3
ARM Hard Float NOOBS version of TLXOS for Micro Center Rpi3

SSL Port denotes the SSL port number that will be used by TMS. By default all communications
between TMS and TLXOS devices are SSL encrypted. The connection between the TLXOS
client and TMS is initiated by the client allowing the encrypted data to travel through Firewalls
allowing remote management from anywhere in the World. The default SSL port is 8085. If you
change this port number, you need to close TMS and restart it. If you are running TMS on a
Linux system, the SSL port must be > 1024 as any port number < 1024 can only be accessed by
a program running with root permissions.
UDP broadcast port denotes the port used by TMS to send broadcast packets to TMS Clients
and is used for initial communication. The default port number is 9097 and should not be changed
unless the port conflicts with existing network traffic.
Broadcast frequency defines how often TMS transmits a UDP broadcast packet. This packet
contains the TMS Hostname and Port number, the default value is 5 seconds.
Columns to Display allows for custom fields to be displayed within the TMS device discovery
frame. This includes the removal or addition of fields and the ability to reorder the fields in top
to bottom preference order.
If you make any changes to the above settings, you must restart TMS to allow the new settings
to take effect.
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Basic TLXOS device configuration

Some basic configuration must be performed on a TLXOS device before it can be deployed. This
involves setting each TLXOS device to the desired Remote server IP Address, and setting the
TMS server connection Protocol option.
There are two ways to do this, via TMS or via vendor specific DHCP options (also known as site
specific DHCP options). When vendor specific DHCP options are used, TMS Clients
automatically connect to a nominated TMS server.
The following vendor specific DHCP options are supported by TMS Clients;
Note: The DHCP Data type MUST be configured as text NOT integer for all four options below
Option name

Code number in decimal

Data type

tlx-tms-ip-address

231

text

tlx-tms-ssl-port

232

text

tlx-remote-server

233

text

tlx-connection-type

234

text

tlx-tms-ip-address specifies the IP address of the TMS server on the network. When a TLXOS
device detects this setting, it will attempt to automatically connect to a TMS server at this IP
address on port number specified by option tlx-tms-ssl-port. When option tlx-tms-ip-address is
specified, you must also specify option tlx-tms-ssl-port.
tlx-tms-ssl-port specifies the SSL port on which the TMS server is listening. This setting must
match the SSL Port setting in TMS preferences, otherwise TLXOS devices will be unable to
connect to the TMS server.
tlx-remote-server specifies the host name or IP address that TLXOS devices should connect to
tlx-connection-type specifies the protocol that TMS Clients should use to connect to the remote
server. Possible values are HDX, RFX, RDP, VNC, X11,WEB and VMW

Basic TLXOS device configuration via TMS

When vendor specific DHCP options or Static assignment are not used, a TLXOS device will
not have enough information to connect to a TMS server. Therefore it listens for UDP broadcasts
that contain the TMS server information. When it receives this broadcast, it extracts the
information and connects to a TMS server over SSL. Thereafter, all communication between
TMS server and a TLXOS device is secured.
You can configure the UDP broadcast frequency using TMS Edit / Settings

To toggle the UDP broadcast on or off, click on the Discover button as shown below

The default setting is UDP discovery turned on. When TMS is launched this commences the
TMS server packet broadcast via UDP to all TLXOS Clients. Once acknowledged, the TLXOS
device(s) then connect to the TMS server and display/populate under the TMS client area with
an empty check mark box next to each client.
Selecting this check box allows the Administrator to send commands to the nominated TLXOS
device(s). This also allows for more than one TLXOS device to be selected and sent commands
at the same time.
Note: Highlighting a Device line by clicking on the line does NOT select the device, you must
click in the selection box next to each client, a tick will appear in the selection box when a device
has been selected
If UDP discovery is being used do NOT run more than one instance of TMS on the same Network
Subnet as the TLXOS clients will connect to the first instance of TMS that they receive UDP
packets from. As they are already connected to TMS they will NOT appear on the second
instance. In some circumstances some TLXOS devices will be connected to one instance of TMS
and others will be connected to the second instance. The Golden rule is to only run one instance
of TMS when UDP Discovery is used.
TMS and TLXOS devices must be on the same network subnet for UDP Broadcast discovery of
TLXOS devices to be successful. If the TLXOS devices are to be located on a different Network
subnet or in a Branch Office then DHCP Discovery must be used or alternatively the TMS
Hostname or IP Address and Port number must be specified using TMS / Tools / Configuration /
TMS Server configuration, select Static in the Dialog Box, then enter the Hostname or IP Address
and the Port number of the PC running TMS. If a different Port number than the default 5808 is
chosen you must also set the same Port number on TMS via the Edit Settings Dialog Box. See
image below.

Assigning a name to a TLXOS device

TMS allows the renaming of TLXOS devices to more descriptive names in the interest of better
identification on the network. This allows administrators to set device names in line with their
Company policy. Note: Changing the Device name does NOT change the Device Hostname, this
only changes the descriptive name on TMS. Automatically changing the Hostname to the same
name as the descriptive name is planned in a future release of TMS
To assign a name of a TLXOS Device, select the check box alongside Set me, then click on
the Name Icon as shown below;

Setting the Remote Server and Connection Protocol

When a TLXOS device boots, if configured correctly it will automatically connect to a Remote
Server using the specified connection Protocol. Depending on the device running TLXOS up to
16 different connection types can be configured. These connection types are
a) Citrix HDX, launches the native Citrix Receiver interface which supports secure SSL
connections only to a Remote Citrix Storefront
b) RemoteFX, launches a connection to a Microsoft RemoteFX VDI Desktop, please ensure
you set the default Security level to NLA
c) RDP, launches a standard RDP (non VDI) connection to a Desktop, please ensure you
set the default Security level to NLA
d) VNC, Launches Turbo VNC Viewer
e) X11, launches a X11 client to connect to a Linux Desktop using XDMCP
f) Spice, launches a Red Hat Spice Protocol client
g) NoMachineNX, launches a NoMachine client
h) Web, launches a Web Browser, for many users this is the preferred method of launching
Citrix Receiver for a Storefront connection as it supports both http and https sessions. We
suggest that the user selects the Kiosk mode checkbox and enters the Storefront URL in
the Cmd line arguments box on the Web mode Dialog box
i) ThinLinX Connection Manager, see connection Manager documentation
j) Telnet, launches a Telnet client
k) Tn3270, launches the Tn3270 IBM Mainframe client
l) VMware View, launches the VMware Horizon client
m) Performance monitor, launches nmon http://nmon.sourceforge.net/pmwiki.php
n) TMS, Launches the Linux version of TMS
o) Digital Signage, changes the mode to Digital Signage, play Images, Video, Web Content
p) Media Player, launches the SMPLayer Media Player

All the above connection types have various levels of configuration available via the individual
Protocol configuration Dialog Box.
The hostname for a remote server can be configured via TMS. To configure the remote server,
select one or more TLXOS Devices then click on the Protocol Icon. Web mode is shown below
configured as Kiosk mode to automatically launch a Citrix HDX session by connecting to a Citrix
Storefront;

The image below shows a RDP session connection to a Windows 2012R2 Server at IP Address
192.168.25.80, the Domain, User Name and Password have been pre-configured, Auto Login is
selected, Security level is set to NLA.

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Setting the client protocol experience level

As per Setting the connection type used to connect to a remote server, the Access Protocol
dialogue box allows users to set various settings for TMS clients in relation to the experience
level of various settings including;
Color Depth sets the display color depth on the client, available settings are protocol dependent
but may include 8 bit, High Color (16 bit), True Color (24), True Color (32) or Auto
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Graphics Quality sets the image quality and level of detail, translations depend greatly with
protocol used: settings include High, Medium, Best or Auto
Audio Quality sets the audio quality, translations depend greatly with protocol used: settings
include High, Medium, Best or Auto
Redirect Audio enables the redirection of audio playback when available within the protocol
selected, settings include Yes or No
Redirect mic enables the redirection of microphone input when available within the protocol
selected, settings include Yes or No
Latency sets optimizations for the type of network environment that the client faces when
connecting to servers, settings include Low (LAN), Medium (WAN), High (Internet/VPN) or
Auto
Security sets a security level baseline for the protocol used, options include Default, SSL and
NLA. If using RDP or RemoteFX you will need to set this to NLA
Window Size sets the window size for the established remote session on the client, options
include Full screen, percent of screen (see below) and Auto
Window Percentage is enabled when percent of screen is enabled within Window Size, options
range from 0-100 percent.
Cmd line arguments enables the entry of command line strings that allow for specific features
for the relevant protocol used, more information about these arguments can be found by clicking
the get remote protocol help button to display a list of available command line options
When entering command line arguments manually, you should not enter the command name or
the hostname, just the command line arguments.
To delete previously set command line arguments, simply delete all commands and click on the
OK button. To set new command line arguments, or to override previously set command line
arguments, enter the new arguments and click on OK. If you just want to view the current
command line arguments, right click on a TLXOS device then click on Show device info pop-up.
The dropdown options available for settings under the Access Protocol dialogue box are
dependent on the underlying protocol support for them and as such not all options are available.
Its recommended that command line arguments are used where strict or advanced protocol
options are required

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Setting screen resolution

TMS allows you to set the Screen resolution on any TLXOS devices, this may be the Single
Display SC-T25, the Dual Display SC-T36 or a RePurposed PC. In the case of the single display
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SC-T25, the only value that should be changed if required is the resolution via the drop down
Resolution box. In most cases the Auto setting is the best option as it will select the most
appropriate resolution for your Monitor. In the image below the Administrator wants to change
the default resolution on the Single Display SC-T25, in this case just set Output 2 & Output 3 to
None and choose a valid mode below for the SC-T25 from the drop down Resolution box.
800 x 600
1024 x 768
1280 x 720
1280 x 960
1280 x 1024
1366 x 768
1440 x 900
1600 x 1200
1680 x 1050
1920 x 1080 is also known as 1080p this is the default resolution on most Monitors
1920 x 1200

In the image below a Dual Display device has been configured, the Extend desktop checkbox is
selected, the Primary display has been set to HDMI and the secondary display to VGA. In this
case the secondary display on Output 2 is located to the right of the Primary display on Output 1
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After changing the resolution a reboot of the TLXOS device(s) is required

After the TLXOS device reboot, the unit will reconnect to the TMS server either via Static
settings, DHCP vendor options, or wait for a broadcast packet from TMS server.

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Rebooting a TLXOS Device

To reboot TLXOS device(s), select the board(s) using the checkbox option and then click on the
Reboot button as per Figure 2.0;
The TLXOS device(s) will update their status on TMS then reboot. Once the board reboots, it
will reconnect to the TMS server as configured (either DHCP, Static or TMS broadcast).
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12

Setting the timezone and time server

When a TLXOS device is shipped, the default timezone is set to Pacific Standard Time, US. To
change the timezone, select one or more TMS Clients, then click on the Set Timezone button as
shown below

The following dialog boxes will appear allowing you select the Continent, Country and Timezone
as shown below. In addition to this a specific NTP Time Server value must also be specified, by
default TLXOS devices uses the 0.debian.pool.ntp.org Time Server

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Click the OK button to apply the time zone on the selected TLXOS devices(s).

Setting a Time Server and the correct Time Zone values is recommended to avoid potential issues
with SSL Certificates and other key security measures that rely on an accurate time values. This
is particularly important on devices such as the SC-T25 which do not have an onboard battery
backed Real Time Clock (RTC)

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13

Downloading firmware updates for TLXOS Devices

Upgrading the firmware on a TLXOS device is very easy, simply click on the Download Icon,
select a download Mirror, and click in the check box next to the Firmware that you want to
download then click on OK
The download will start with the download progress displayed at the bottom left of TMS, once
the download completes the firmware is automatically copied and then unzipped in the TMS
Firmware directory.

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The firmware is downloaded once and can then be installed on many TLXOS devices
simultaneously by clicking on the check boxes for each device then clicking on the Upgrade
Icon which will display a dialog box with the latest version of the firmware pre-selected. Click
on OK to start the firmware upgrade process. If you wish to roll back to an earlier version of
the firmware, choose the Let me select the firmware to install option.

When a TLXOS device receives the upgrade command it starts the upgrade process by rebooting
the device into upgrade mode, TMS displays, going Offline. Upgrade mode loads a tiny version
of TLXOS which runs completely in RAM, this is necessary to allow the Kernel & RFS Partitions
to be written with the new version of TLXOS.
TMS displays periodic messages in the status column, this begins with the message
Downloading Kernel: 10%, followed by Downloading RFS: 10%. The percentage shows how
much of each file has been downloaded. After both the Kernel and RFS (Root Filesystem) have
been downloaded the message Writing Kernel followed by Writing RFS appears in each
device Status line. Many TLXOS devices can be upgraded simultaneously as they are all running
independently of each other. Depending on the device being upgraded the upgrade can take
anywhere from 5 minutes for fast storage up to 30 minutes for a slow SD Card. After the upgrade
completes successfully each device reboots into Normal mode running the new version of
TLXOS

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16

Network Configuration

Click on the Network Icon to change the configuration of the Wired or Wireless interfaces. The
default setting is DHCP, this can be changed to Static where all interface information must be
manually entered. Another option is DHCP with DNS Override, this must be set if the DHCP
Server is not providing DNS information in which case the DNS Server IP Address information
can be manually entered.
If your device has WiFi support built in you can deselect the check box for Wired Interface and
select the check box for Wireless interface, the default setting is DHCP, with Static or DHCP
with DNS override available also. The only encryption protocol offered is the secure WPA/WPA2
Personal, WEP and No Encryption may be added to a future TLXOS release due to customer
requests for these options. You must enter your WiFi Access Point SSID and a password which
must be at least 8 characters long (maximum of 63 characters) If you are unsure of your Wireless
access point SSID you can scan for the SSID using a Mobile Phone set to Wireless mode. On
some devices you may need to reboot to ensure the WiFi mode is working.

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17

Keyboard Configuration

To configure your Keyboard, select the check boxes on devices to be configured, click the
Keyboard Icon and enter the values required.

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Firewall Configuration

TLXOS has a firewall enabled as the default, if you wish to switch off the device Firewall click
on the Firewall Icon and select Disabled

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19

Upload Files to your devices

Some file types can be uploaded to your devices by selecting the Upload Icon, these are SSL
Certificate, Printer PPD file, your Public SSH key, a Wallpaper image that is displayed after
boot up as the background image.
(a) SSL Certificate, this should be your Root Certificate in .pem format, used for secure
connection with Citrix Receiver
(b) PPD file, you can upload a Printer PPD file to your device, then use the local
configuration menu to select Web Browser mode, use the Web Browser CUPS
Bookmark to configure a local Printer using your PPD file for a better printing
experience than the built in drivers.
(c) SSH Key, you can upload your Public SSH key to the device to obtain root access
(d) Wallpaper PNG image, upload your preferred Wallpaper using your own image.
You must reboot your device to permanently save the files to the storage.

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20

Storage & Wizard Configuration

The Storage Icon & Wizard Icons are only used for Factory installations, you will not need to
use these options

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The Tools menu

The Tools menu allows the configuration of many additional features and also displays
Keyboard shortcuts hints, see Quick launch Dialog box below

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The Tools / Configuration, menu has five sub menus which are shown below

TMS Server configuration, this will point the TLXOS device to the PC running TMS

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Set PXE Server configuration, is available for X86 devices only. This mode is used for
Network installation of TLXOS. Before you enable this mode ThinLinX recommends that you
set up a separate Network using a Router, even a DSL modem with a Switch port is a good
option if you do not have access to a Router.
Plug the Router / DSL Modem WAN Port into your normal Network to provide Internet
connectivity which is required for Automatic Registration of the 60 Day Free trial. Plug your
X86 device being configured as a PXE Server into one of the Switch ports on the Router / DSL
Modem, plug your X86 devices of the same class to be installed with TLXOS into the other
Switch Ports. If you are using RePC the devices will be installed with RePC, if you are using
the 32-Bit Intel Small Form Factor version of TLXOS, your devices must be Intel based, if you
are installing the 64-Bit Intel NUC version of TLXOS your devices must be Intel based.
Configure the Network information below or use your own choice of values. Reboot the X86
device which you just configured as the PXE Server to permanently save the values you have
entered. You can now PXE boot any of the devices to be installed with TLXOS, they will
download and install TLXOS from the PXE Server. The PXE Server mode runs in the
background, the device can be switched to TMS mode using the local configuration menu
Protocol Tab to allow you to permanently Register the devices, this will stop them going into
Upgrade mode after the 60 Day Free trial expires. You must be connected to the Internet and
not behind a Web Proxy for the 60 Day Free Trial or Permanent Registration to be successful.
ThinLinX has plans to add Web Proxy support to TMS in the near future

Google Cloud Print configuration, allows your TLXOS device to act as a Google Cloud Print
Server, just fill out the information below, ensure you have a Printer connected via USB or
Ethernet, configure your Printer with CUPS via the local Web Browser bookmark

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Terminal Services Gateway configuration, for RDP & RemoteFX is configured via the
Terminal services gateway Dialog box shown below.

Network configuration, launches the Network Configuration Dialog box as described earlier
in this document
Tools / Downloads / Clear Updates Cache, clears the list of downloaded firmware files from
TMS. When the Download Icon is click on, a List of available firmware is displayed, firmware
that has already been downloaded no longer appears in the list unless Clear Updates Cache is
clicked on
Tools / Install / Install TMS client, every TLXOS firmware release includes a TMS client
which communicates information from the TLXOS device to the PC running TMS. In some
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circumstances a new version of the TMS client is made available, this can be downloaded using
Download Icon and then copied to the TLXOS device.
Tools / Install / Install Hotfix, from time to time between new TLXOS Firmware releases a
Hotfix may be released to correct a bug, update Citrix Receiver etc. To install a Hotfix, first
click on the Download Icon, select the Hotfix from the Dialog box list, click on Tools / Install /
Install Hotfix to copy the Hotfix to selected TLXOS devices
Tools / Install / Install File on device, this provides the same function as clicking on the
Upload Icon.
Tools / Log / Get device Log files, this will download the log files from the device, the three
files are pre-pended with the device Mac Address and include Kernel dmesg, TMS client
information, and the Xserver Log, see image below

Tools / Log / Set device log state, the default is Enabled, if you wish to disable logging select
the disabled check box.

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Tools / Storage, dedicate Storage is a Factory option and is not required for standard TLXOS
installations
Tools / Set Tlxconfig password, this allows the setting of a password to disable access to the
local TLXOS configuration menu

Tools / Product Registration, this Registers the device which will stop the device going into
Upgrade mode after the 60 Day Free trial expires. You must be connected to the Internet and
not behind a Web Proxy for the 60 Day Free Trial or Permanent Registration to be successful.
ThinLinX has plans to add Web Proxy support to TMS in the near future
To Register a Product you must purchase a License from the ThinLinX online Store
http://www.thinlinx.com/order.html
The Store accepts Paypal or Credit Cards through Paypal, contact ThinLinX at
sales@thinlinx.com for other payment options.

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To register your devices after purchasing a License you must first select the check box next to
the device name and then use TMS / Tools / Product Registration which launches the dialog
box below. Enter the email address and Password that you registered at the ThinLinX online
Store. Press OK, a few seconds later Product Registered will appear in the Status line. The
License is locked to the Hardware device that you Registered

Tools / Show serial number, this will display the serial number of any selected devices in the
Status line

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Tools / setup USB redirection, this option is used to configure which USB devices to redirect
inside a Microsoft RemoteFX VDI session, it has no effect in any other Protocols including
RDP mode.

Tools / Sync Digital Signage Directory, one of the Protocols supported by your TLXOS
device is Digital Signage for Advertising / Information / Timetables etc. TLXOS will support
up to three displays. The Digital Signage mode can play fixed images, Videos or a Web
Browser in Kiosk mode.
Depending on the number of Monitor Outputs on your TLXOS devices you can create up to
three subdirectories on the PC running TMS, we recommend you create a Digital Signage
directory with three subdirectories named Images, Videos and Web
Copy Images to the Images directory, Videos to the Videos directory and html Web content to
the Web directory. Do not mix Images, Videos or Web content in the one directory as this will
lead to delays in the content being displayed as the player switched modes.
PowerPoint can be used to create amazing content which you save as a .wmv file and then copy
to the Videos directory
In the Image below you can see that it is possible to synchronize content on your PC with the
Digital Signage directories on your TLXOS devices, there is one directory dedicated for each
Output display. If your TLXOS device has Dual Displays it is possible to play Images on one
Display and Videos on the second, or Web Content on one display and either Videos or Images
on the other.
In this example we will configure Images to play on Output-1 and Videos to play on Output-2,
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step one is to use the TMS Protocol Icon to switch your TLXOS device to Digital Signage
mode, this will automatically create three Digital Signage subdirectories on your device in the
/home/TLXOS/dsi_root directory. The device will attempt to play content which does not exist
yet as you have not synchronized your Digital Signage Images, Videos, and Web directory
content with the TLXOS device
Use the Output-1 content directory Browse button to select your Digital Signage/Images
directory
Use the Output-2 content directory Browse button to select your Digital Signage/Videos
directory
Untick the Output-3 content directory Sync this directory check box, then click the OK
button, the file synchronization with start with progress messages displayed.
After the synchronization is complete, click on the Reboot Icon, the TLXOS device will reboot
and start playing the content.
You can add or remove content in your PCs Digital Signage directories and then Synchronize
again. If you want to erase the content on the TLXOS device just erase the content in your
corresponding Digital Signage directory and Synchronize again. See the quick start Digital
Signage guide at the link below
http://www.thinlinx.us/downloads/Digital_Signage_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf

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Tools / Export thin client list, is under development, do not use this option
Tools / Reset to factory defaults, will reset the TLXOS device to the shipped default settings
erasing any changes that you have made to the initial configuration. This can also be carried out
on the TLXOS device itself by pressing Ctrl-Alt-r twice within 2 seconds, the device will
reboot.
Tools / Exit upgrade mode, is used to return a device which has entered upgrade mode (due to
License expiry) to normal mode if the device has been Registered
Tools / Profile manager, this option is under development, do not use this option

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Displaying detailed TLXOS device information

Every TLXOS device has unique device information such as serial and MAC address details. To
determine the detailed information of a TLXOS Device, select the device, then right click and
select Show device info. The serial number for the selected TLXOS device will be displayed in
the Device Information screen as shown below. This serial field or any other field allows the
copy and paste function by pressing control + C (Windows) to copy the serial number to the
clipboard then paste it into an email or other document.

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24

Sorting TMS Clients into departments

Its recommended when managing a higher volume of TLXOS units that devices are grouped
into sub folders or containers called departments. When TMS is first installed, a default
department called Orphans is created and all TMS Clients that connect to TMS are stored in this
department. You can create as many departments as you wish and store your TMS Clients in
these departments.
To create a new department, right click in the Department section on the left hand side of the UI,
then click on the New Department pop-up, as shown below, then enter a name for the department
and click on the OK button.

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Once a department has been created, you can rename it or delete it by right clicking on the
department then clicking on the pop-up below

TMS does not allow you to delete departments that have TMS clients assigned to them. First
reassign clients before deleting a department.
You can change the order in which the departments you created are displayed. Simply drag and
drop them to create the order you want.
To move a TLXOS device to particular department, just drag it from the UI and drop it into the
relevant department.
If a TLXOS device that was previously discovered and visible on TMS is no longer visible, check
each department to see if you have misplaced it and in fact it is visible but hidden in a different
department. When you click on a department you will only see devices that are in that
department. If a device is still not visible it may need to be power cycled to force a reboot.
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25

FAQ

How do I install TLXOS on the turn key Micro Center Citrix HDX Ready Pi?
The TLXOS and TFM images are already stored on the Micro Center HDX Ready Pi, please
watch this short Video to see how easy the installation is to carry out Micro Center HDX Ready
Pi installation
http://www.thinlinx.com/tlxos-mc.mp4
After the installation is completed the RPi will reboot and display the boot menu which has the
default TLXOS & TFM modes, a 10 second countdown begins, if you do nothing the default
TLXOS will boot, if you press Enter during the countdown the default TLXOS will boot
immediately. Please do not select TFM mode as the RPi will boot into ThinLinX upgrade mode
which is only used for Firmware upgrades. If you select TFM mode by mistake just unplug the
power, plug the power back in to reboot. TFM mode is the ThinLinX Firmware Maintenance
mode which is automatically selected by the ThinLinX Management Server (TMS) during
Firmware Upgrades
I installed Raspbian on Micro Center Citrix HDX Ready Pi, how do I re-install TLXOS?
The TLXOS and TFM images are already stored on the Micro Center HDX Ready Pi SD Card,
just boot the RPi while holding down the Shift Key, this will bring up the installation screen,
click on the check box next to TLXOS and the check box next to TFM, press i to install. After
the installation is completed if TLXOS boots up with a Black screen you will need to edit the
config.txt file as the Raspbian installation makes changes to this file which affects some
Monitors. This is easy to do, just reboot the RPi while holding down the Shift Key, you will see
the Installation screen, press "e" to Edit the config.txt file, on the second line, change
disable_splash=1 to disable_splash=0, scroll down the page until you see hdmi_drive=2
comment this line out by placing a # in front of #hdmi_drive=2 click on OK to save your changes,
press escape to exit and reboot
On the Micro Center HDX Ready Pi how do I configure the Web Browser to connect to my
Citrix Server URL?
Either on the local configuration screen or using TMS select the Protocol Tab, select Web mode,
enter your Server URL into the Cmd line arguments box
How does the ThinLinX Management Software (TMS) discover the devices running
TLXOS?
There are three discovery methods available to TMS, the default two methods are UDP Broadcast
packets which are broadcast at 5 second intervals, (this interval can be adjusted under TMS / Edit
/ Settings) and DHCP Option Flags. The UDP broadcasts can be toggled on and off by clicking
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on the TMS Discover Icon

The Third Discovery method is to configure an already discovered Device by using TMS / Tools
/ Configuration / TMS server configuration, just select the Static check box and enter the Name
or IP Address of the PC running TMS. You can leave the default Port at 8085, if you change the
default Port you will also need to change the default TMS Port using TMS / Edit / Settings. You
can also use the local configuration menu on the device running TLXOS to configure these
settings
Once the Thin Client has been discovered by TMS commands can be sent to it. UDP Discovery
can only be used on the same Subnet as Thin Clients, if you are shipping your Thin Clients to a
regional Office or they are situated on a different Subnet you will need to use DHCP Option
Flags or the third method above.
TMS communicates with the Thin Clients running TLXOS using a secure SSL connection, this
allows a Thin Client that has been configured using DHCP Option Flags or the third Discovery
method above to be located anywhere in the World. The Thin Clients can even be behind multiple
Firewalls as they will tunnel out initiating the SSL connection to TMS
DHCP option flags can be used to pass a default configuration to TLXOS, consisting of TMS
location and Port number, the IP Address or name of the Remote Desktop Server to connect to
and the Protocol to use such as, WEB, HDX, RDP, RFX etc.
At the moment we have four options but may add others in the future. The Option Flags must all
be configured as Text not Integer
Option 231 point to the TMS location
Option 232 sets the TMS Port number
Option 233 sets the IP, Name or URL of the Server to connect to
Option 234 sets the Protocol, in this case Web or HDX
The Linux version of TMS is built into every version of TLXOS, if you wish to use a Raspberry
Pi as a TMS console you can do that by switching the Protocol to TMS. When using the Linux
version of TMS built into TLXOS always accept the default installation location when switching
to TMS mode as this location is writable.
When I connect to a Remote Desktop using the Raspberry Pi2, I do not hear any Audio
This problem occurs with some Monitors. If TLXOS detects a HDMI Monitor the Audio is output
through that, otherwise through the audio Jack. To get around this issue, you can turn off the RPi,
remove the SD Card, place into a Card Reader and edit the config.txt file in the tlxboot partition,
just uncomment the line hdmi_drive=2 by removing the # in front of that line. Save the file, insert
35

into RPi and boot up.You can also adjust the default volume before connecting to the Remote
Desktop session by pressing Ctrl-Alt-v
The ThinLinX Management Software (TMS) does not discover my TLXOS device, how can
I fix this problem?
On first boot up TLXOS devices use DHCP to obtain an IP Address, DNS information and also
NTP to obtain the correct time and date. You can open an xterm on the TLXOS device using CtrlAlt-t, enter /sbin/ifconfig to view the IP Address, try pinging a domain name, check that the date
is correct by entering date
The golden rule when using the default UDP discovery mode is to never run more than one
instance of TMS at once. When you launch TMS it sends UDP discovery packets with the IP
ADDRESS and Port number of the system running TMS, the TLXOS clients connect to that
System. If you launch another instance of TMS on a different system it will not see the clients as
they have already connected to the other system. Close all the instances of TMS that are running
and then just run the one instance The Rpi does not have a Real Time Clock, ensure your DNS
is set up correctly as the Rpi needs to resolve names to contact the Time Server. After the clients
are discovered you can use TMS to set the IP ADDRESS and Port number of the system running
TMS, you would use this mode to manage your clients anywhere in the world from one central
location. Use TMS / Tools / Configuration / TMS Server configuration The default UDP
discovery only works on the same Subnet TMS is also built into TLXOS, you can even use a RPi
in TMS mode if you want to. Just switch the protocol to TMS On some versions of Windows
some dll files required by TMS are missing TMServer.exe uses the DLL msvcr100.dll and
srvcli.dll which are both in the folder "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\" These DLLs are most likely
missing if you don't have "Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)"
installed. Downloaded it from here
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8328
TMS still can't discover the client
Press Control AlT and t Lower case t for terminal This will open an xterm, enter /sbin/ifconfig
to see the IP ADDRESS and ping whatever you like. TMS in installation mode uses UDP
broadcast, check your Firewall on the Server.

What do I do if my USB Keyboard and Mouse do not work on the Intel NUC
This problem is easily fixed, just boot the NUC while pressing F2 to enter the BIOS, select USB
Legacy to on. Depending on the version of the BIOS in your NUC you may have to select USB
XHCI to Off. Save the BIOS changes, reboot the NUC
How do I upload a private CA certificate to TLXOS devices to allow them to connect to
Storefront Servers?
36

You must use the ThinLinX Management Software (TMS) to install the SSL Certificate. You can
install the Certificate to hundreds of TLXOS Devices simultaneously if you wish to. Use TMS /
Tools / Install / Install file on device / Install SSL Certificate, then reboot the devices to
permanently store the SSL Certificate
How do I obtain root access on a device running TLXOS?
The O/S has been tightly locked down to help prevent thin clients from being used as an attack
vector against servers. Although SSH is installed, it does not support password authentication,
and in any case none of the accounts on the system including root have password hashes;
they are all locked accounts. The only way you can get root access is to SSH in as root using a
trusted key. By default, only public keys belonging to ThinLinX developers are listed in
/root/.ssh/authorized_keys, but it is possible to use TMS to install more via the Install File on
Device option in the Tools menu. The public key that you upload must be in OpenSSH format.
On
Windows
platforms,
PuTTYgen
(part
of
the
PuTTY
suite
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/) can be used to display the public key of a
PPK file in OpenSSH format (copy and paste from the text box at the top do not use the Save
Public Key button, as creates keys in a non-OpenSSH format).
How do I set up Dual or Triple Displays on the Intel NUC
Use the local Configuration menu to set up the Displays. The local Configuration menu has an
Identify Monitors Tab which makes the set up easier. Select Configure, Displays, under Video
Mode, click on Extend Desktop, in the case of the Dual Display DE3815 NUC to set the left
Display to VGA and the Right Display to HDMI, set Output 1, Connector Tab to VGA, you can
leave the rest of that line at the defaults, set Output 2, Connector Tab to HDMI, set position Tab
to Right of, set Referent to Output 1, you can leave the rest of that line at the defaults. Ensure the
Output 3 Connector Tab is set to None, click on Save Settings
HOWTO set up your Printers
USB Locally connected Printers are easy if you are using Citrix or RemoteFX...In the case of
Citrix plug the Printer into the NUC, boot the NUC and connect to the Remote Desktop, the
Printer will be detected and the drivers will be installed. In some cases Windows wont be able
to find the drivers in which case you will need to go the Printer Manufacturers Website, download
and install the Drivers. In the case of RemoteFX, boot the NUC with the Printer attached and
then use the ThinLinX Management Software (TMS) to redirect the printer using TMS / Tools /
Setup USB Redirection. Select the checkbox next to the Printer and then reboot the NUC to save
the configuration. Connect to your Remote Desktop the Printer will be detected and the drivers
will be installed. In some cases Windows wont be able to find the drivers in which case you will
need to go the Printer Manufacturers Website, download and install the Drivers.
In the case of a USB Printer using standard RDP or a Network Printer you must configure CUPS
on the NUC to enable the remote system to see the Printer. Just select Web Mode to launch
37

Chrome and then click on the Configure printers Bookmark at the top left. Chrome will connect
to the Local CUPS Server running on TLXOS Please Google CUPS (Common Unix Printing
System) for the fine print on how to set up CUPS printing. For the best results when you set up
your local printer you should consider providing the Windows PPD file instead of using the
closest Linux Printer Driver. This is particularly important for Multi Function Printers where no
Linux PPD driver exists Once you have the Windows PPD file extracted from your Windows
installation Disk you can use TMS to copy the PPD file to the NUC / Re-PC / Compute Stick /
RaspberryPi 2 To copy the PPD file use TMS / Tools / Install File on Device / Select the PPD
file When you configure CUPS, select this PPD file Reboot the NUC to save the PPD file to flash
You can also configure a Printer using CUPS as a RAW printer where the Server Printer Driver
does all the work before sending the Raw data to the Printer We also support Google Cloud Print
I can't connect to a RDP or RemoteFX session
The most likely cause is the default TLXOS RDP or RemoteFX Security is too low, use TMS to
set NLA on. You select Protocol, RemoteFX, click on the Security tab change from the default
to NLA
I can't install TLXOS
The most likely cause is that you removed the USB stick too early, you should wait until the
installer prompt for its removal at the appropriate time.
How can I start an xterm?
Exit fullscreen or defocus your fullscreen application and then use control-alt-t. And anticipating
your next question, no, there is no way to su to root in this window.
How do I get out of fullscreen mode?
It depends on what mode youre in: HDX: shift-f2. Allegedly. RDP and RemoteFX: control-altenter. This will release pointer grab, but the FreeRDP window will still intercept keystrokes while
the window is in focus. Spice: shift-f11 (and then shift-f12 to ungrab the keyboard and pointer).
VNC: control-alt-shift-f, or use f8 to bring up the configuration menu and click on Full Screen
to toggle it off. X11: you cant, but you can use control-shift to toggle key grab between local
and remote window managers. This will allow you to use local keyboard shortcuts such
windows-d to show the desktop, control-alt to switch windows and so forth. Everything else:
there is no fullscreen mode, you just have a window thats been sized to fit the current screen
resolution. You can use normal window manager controls to resize or minimize it.
Local audio is too loud/quiet, so I cant make audio quiet/loud enough using remote or web
page volume controls. Is there a volume control for local audio playback?
Yes, but right now its a bit ugly. Sorry about that. First exit fullscreen or defocus your fullscreen
application, and press the control-alt-v key combination. This will bring up an ALSA mixer GUI.
38

The controls that will probably be of most interest to you are DAC2 Digital Coarse and DAC2
Digital Fine..
I tried changing resolution but now my screen is black / my monitor says scan rate out of
range. I dont have TMS / cant get someone else to change settings using TMS. What can
I do?
Use the appropriate key sequence to exit from fullscreen mode for whichever protocol you are
currently using (see How do I get out of fullscreen mode, above), and then press the controlalt-r key combination twice within two seconds. This will cause your client to reset to a safe
default resolution (1024x768) and reboot.
Is there a way to bring up the configuration tool other than from the dialog window that
comes up after a session has ended? I dont want to close my application right now.
Yes. First exit fullscreen or defocus your fullscreen application (see How do I get out of
fullscreen mode, above) and then use the control-alt-c key combination.
My thin client cant connect to anything and the configuration tool says that it has no IP
address. What can I do?
Unplug the network cable, wait at least six seconds, and then plug in back in again. This will
reset the interface and trigger a new DHCP request.
Can I share my display with another person (for training or troubleshooting purposes)?
Yes. RDP and HDX (ICA) protocols have their own session shadowing features which may or
may not work with our client implementations but TLXOS also has a VNC server capability
that you can use. To initiate a shadow connection, first exit fullscreen or defocus your fullscreen
application (see How do I get out of fullscreen mode, above), and then press control-alt-s and
enter the hostname or IP address and TCP port number of the shadower in the window that
appears. You have the option of either connecting to a listening VNC client over an SSL
connection (active mode), or setting up a TCP port forward via an SSH tunnel and awaiting a
connection (passive mode). Active mode has the advantage of using ordinary HTTPS and being
able to use a web proxy, which makes it suitable for highly secure environments that dont permit
direct connection to the Internet. Passive mode has the advantage of also providing an SSH port
forward, allowing SSH as well as VNC access from the remote SSH endpoint. Unlike typical
VNC servers, both modes of operation dial out to a remote server, which permits traversal of
firewalls and NAT gateways and implicitly ensures operator consent. For active mode, the
shadowing system must be running stunnel (www.stunnel.org) redirecting to a VNC client
application in listen mode (we recommend TurboVNC - www.virtualgl.org). Use of SSL is
mandatory. For passive mode, the shadowing system must be running an SSH server that accepts
publickey authentication and permits port forwarding, and has a user with a
~/.ssh/authorized_keys file that contains TLXOS SSH host public keys. A thin client using
TLXOS can do both these things, and can therefore be used to shadow sessions on another
39

TLXOS thin client.

What is TLXADM?
TLXADM is a Virtual Appliance (VA) developed by ThinLinX which has our Linux version of
TMS pre-installed and also a built in Desktop Shadower which is described above. TLXADM is
a ~700MB download and runs on Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware, Oracle
VirtualBox, Linux KVM
Once installed you can use any device running Citrix Receiver or RDP to display the TLXADM
Desktop, this allows you to administer TLXOS devices from anywhere in the World, also to see
and interact with their Desktops before they log into a Windows session and to ssh as the Root
user to the TLXOS device being shadowed. The shadowed session has to be initiated by the user
of the remote TLXOS device.
Please email info@thinlinx.com for download instructions for the Beta version of TLXADM
The web browser / Citrix / whatever says that the server SSL certificate is not trusted, but
Im sure that I have installed the correct CA certificate. Whats wrong?
Its likely that your thin clients local clock is wrong. To verify this, you can start a terminal using
control-alt-t and then enter date in the window that appears. This happens because the
TLX1000 has no battery-backed clock, so unless it can contact a network time server from which
to get the current date and time, it will revert to a nonsensical value such as the year 2000 or 2027
whenever its power is reset. By default, it will try to contact Internet time servers, which may not
succeed if there is an intervening firewall or if hostname lookups are failing. To fix the problem,
use TMS or the local configuration tool to set the time server to the name or IP address of a local
NTP server that the client will be able to connect to. Typically this would be the same as the local
DNS server (if it is an Active Directory domain controller) or default gateway (if it is a router
appliance).

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Copyright

2016 ThinLinX Inc. All rights reserved.

Information in this manual is protected by copyright laws and is the intellectual property of
ThinLinX Inc. No changes may be made to this manual without the written consent of ThinLinX
Inc. No part of this manual may be copied, reproduced, translated or published in any form or by
any means without prior written permission from ThinLinX Inc.

40